Ornamentation of leather



25, 1930- w. T. B. ROBERTS 1,748,083

ORNAMENTAION 0F LEATHER Filed April 1, 1927 2 Sheets-Sheet /NVENTU/? F' s w. T. B. ROBERTS 1,748,083

ORNAMENTAION OF LEATHER Filed April 1927 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Fi .3., Fi .4. Fig 5.

' o punchings.

Patented Feb. 25, 1930 4 1 UNITED STATES PATEN\T OFFICE .wrnmm' rnomas BUCKINGHAM ROBERTS,- OF LEICESTER, ENGLAND, Assmomo' UNITED SHOE MACHINERY CORPORATION, OF PATERSON, NEW JERSEY, A 003 ron'a'rrou OF NEW mnsni OmiAm nTA TIO'N or LEATHER Application filed April 1,- 1927, seriaino. 180,307, and in Great Britain A' rn 14, ,1926. 4

i This invention relates to methods and ma chines for the production. of ornamented leather and like material and is particularly concerned with the ornamentation of shoe 5 uppers.

In the various systems of ornamenting leather or s1m1lar material used 1n the manufacture of shoe uppers, such as printing, em-

bossing, perforating, interlacing with strips and the like, the finished product has been subject to the disadvantage that the-surface of the material is irregular. As a result, the product has been liable either to uneven wear or was of such 'a character that 'it provided recessesin which dirt and the like might accumulate;

In view of the foregoing, the present invention, in its method aspect, provides for the ornamentation of sheet material, such as leather, by punching out a portion. of the leather in accordance with a-predetermined design and replacing the punched out portion with a correspondingly shaped portion of similar material having a different appearance which has been provided within a tu: bnlar member, the tubular member being used for guiding-the punching into position with respect to the perforation in the upper from which the punching is expelled'directly into the-shoe upper. The resulting product has a smooth surface and a striking and-attractive appearance and avoids the disadvantages of the methods heretofore employed.\ Preferably, and as herein exemplified, a 5 shoe upper or similar part is perforated by means of a punch made up of-a plurality of tubular punches. These same tubular punches'are then employed for guiding correspondi-nglyshaped pi ls or 'punchings, ob-

40 tained, for exam le, by punchinganother piece of leather 0 constrasting material into the perforations originally provided. Since these pills or punchings. have been obtained by the use of the same tubular punches em ployed in making the original perforations, they will fit exactly in the perforations. The punching may be even more firmly held in position therein by means of a lining secured adhesively both 'to the shoe upper and to the In another aspect, the invention'provides an improved punching machine, capable, of use either for perforating a piece of slieet material, such as a shoe upper, or for guidgin'g the punch carrier niayf'be moved either to cause the punches to perforate the work or to brlng them into juxtaposition with the surface of apiece of work which has been previously perforzuted so that the pills or punchin 5 within the tubes of the punch may be expe ledand guided accurately into the openlogs of the perforated material. I

Still other features of the invention reside in work supporting and clampiiw devices by means of which the pieces of woidc may be located and relocated inex'actly the same position in respect to the punching devices. As illustrated, these work supporting and clamping devices are provided with a sheet of backing material which may be rotated thereon to provide fresh punching surfaces so that the punches may pass completely through the loathe'rf or vsimilar material without dnlling the edges of the punches.

These and other features of the invention will now be set forth in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which Fig. 1 is a .front elevation of an improvedpunching machine; Fig 2 is'a side "iew; partly in section, of the same machine; l

.Figs. 3, 4 and 5 are diagrammatic views illustratingcertain steps in the sequence of Operations withreference to a single tubular punch;

Fig. fi illustrates the work clamping device holding a previously perforated vamp Fig. 7 shows how a punching may be obtained by perforating a piece of leather of similar thickness but of contrasting appearance;

8 shows the same work de vice a-nd 'vamp after the punchings of contrasting material have been inserted inthe previously provided perforations Fig. is a section on the line X-- X of Fig. 9 shows the samevampremovedjrom the work clamping device; I

Fig.9; and;

Fig.111 is a perspective view: of tubular punches ofthe type employed herein.

.Forthe sake 'of illustration, there has been shown a hand operated machine comprising a base 10 providing a work support upon which there is pivotally mounted,npon a rod '12, a

wide, forwardly extending leve 14 to which.

punch carrier 16 may be'seci red by means of a stud 1S and a bolt 20..- This punch carrier has a plurality of tubular. punches 22 arranged-in accordance with a predetermined design, so as to cut at a single operation the whole of the desiredperforated pattern in the sheetmaterial. These punches are provi ed not only with the customary stripper plate-24 resiliently mounted .upon sliding {studs but in addition have an ejectiIIgLmemberfcOm-Z prising a block-"provided with a plurality of expelling pins 32 corresponding infnum:

in smooth position under the punches and ing devices comprising rigid work supporther and shape to the tubular punches 22 and this block 30 is ret-ainedupon'the punch-car rier, by means of screw istuds 3i surrounding which are springs 36 to hold the ejector block 30 normally in elevated position.

In order that pieces of work may beheld may be removed and replaced in exactly the same position with respect to the punching mechanism, there are provided work supporting plates 40 (Fig. 6) together with clamp ing devices 42 embodying side bar's 4-1 and 46 which are retained in position on the plate 40 by means of headed studs 48 surroimded by springs 50. These sidebars 4A and 46 are connected at theirfront ends bymeans of a cross bar 52 drilled for the reception of bolts provided with wingnut-s 534. Preferably a piece of backing material 56, such as thiclt paper is mounted upon'the plate 40 to receive the cutting edges of the various punches. In order that this piece of backing material may readily be moved to various positions on the work supporting device, it'may circular in form and mounted for rotation u on a central boss 58 so that fresh portions 0 the backing material 56 may be presented to the punches. To facilitate the ready rte-positioning of the work supporting plates 40 in the machine, abutment surfaces 60 (Fig.1) and 62 (Fig.

2) are provided to'co-act with the side and rear edges of said plates. .Theso work supporting plates may be secured in position in the machine by means of a cone-ended screw plunger 64 threaded in the'side of the base 10 and provided with an operating handle 66 so that it may be turned into engagement with a conical recess 68 (Fig. 6) in the side I of the plate 40. To provide for the operating v 1 mechamsm ,of the machine, the base 10 has an upstanding, forwardly projecting bracket 1- I 0 having a cross bar 12 and providing bear- .ings at its forward portion for theshafts 74 and 76. The shaft 74 is provided with a cam 78 between the arms of the bracket 70 and in-'.

terlockedwith this cani-at'SO (Fig. 1 )isan t operating handle 82. This cam 78 is arranged for. engagement with a hardened steel. plate 8-} extending across the front of the lever 14,

and the design of thecam'is such that, upon partial rotation of the lever 82, the punch carrying lever 14 is depressed against the tension of a supporting spring 86 (Fig; 2) to cause the punches to perforate a vamp 88 or v other piece of work which may. be mounted upon'onegof the work supporting plates 40.--'

The machine also provides for the ultilization'of the punches as guiding devices by means of which pills, punched-from a piece of material 90 (Fig. 7)-may be inserted in the previously provided pcrforationsof the work, Tothis end, cams'92 and 94 are mount ed upon the shaft 76 which is providedgwith an o crating handle 96. A wedge-shaped -mem r 98 is adj'ustablfy secured in positionv juponthe' upper-side o v -lever 14 by means of .a bolt 100 for co-operathe punch carrying tion with the cam92 so that upon rotation ofthe handle 96, the punchesmay be depressed a distance less than that required for the punching operation to bring the sharpened edges 102 (Fig. 11) of the punch tubes 22 just upto the surface of the previously perforated piece of work so that the'punches may serve as guides for the insertion'of properly shapedpills or'pun'chings in said perforations.

7. Since, as will be more fully explained later, the pills-to be insertedhave been obtained by the use of the same punch, they may be readily inserted in the previously provided per-1 'forations of the work by actuation of the block 30 carrying the expelling pins 32'and to this end, the cam 94 upon the shaft 76 is arranged for engagement with the upper surface of the pin carrying block 30 and-is so designed that upon rotation of the-handle 96, the expelling pins '32- will be depressed just far enough to expel the punchings' from the tu'bes'22 into'the perforations of the work.

Itnow-remains to describe the manner in which pieces'of material may be ornamented in accordance with my novel method, util the piece of work. The work supporting de I vice 40 with its piece of work secured thereon is theninserted in the machine and clamped in position by means of the screw 64, after which the lever 82 is operated to-cause the 'unch' device 22,to;'perforate the work, as illustrated in Fig. 3, to secure a pattern as in Fig. 6 after which the work supporting de- .vic'e 40 is removed from the machine and the.

handle 96 operated to. cause the expulsion of the p'unchings or pills 110 from the device' 22. These steps are illustrated diagrammatically in Fig.- 3.

A piece of leather 90 of contrasting appearmice is thenpositioned in the machine and the lever 82 operated as'shown diagrammatically been ma e in the work piece 88. A perforated work piece '88, such for example, as that al.-

ready described and shown. in Fig. 6, is then re-positioned in the machine in exactly the I same positionwhich it. occupied when the perforations were originally made. 4 .To this'end,

the side and rear edges of the work supportin late/10 en a e the-co-acting abutments 60 and62 of the machine base and, when the screw 64 has been tightened by meansof the handle 66, the operator is'assured that the piece of work is properly and exactly positioned in the machine, it will be apparent that the'punches now contain pills 112; of similar but contrasting material, whereupon these" pills may be inserted in the previously pro-. vided perforations by rotating the handle 96 to cause the machine to go through the series of 'steps illustrated diagrammatically in Fig. fii'insaccordance with which the punching device 22 is brought into juxtaposition with the upper surface of the workpiece shown diegrammatically at 88, andthenthe pill 112 is expelled .from the punch tube 22'. by means of the expelling pin 32'into the perforation 114,-

thus exactly filling said perforation with'a piece of similar material, the upper surface of which is flush with the surface of the work' piece. ,The work piece will then assume the appearance of the finished product as shown in Figs; 8 and-9, and having b'een'removed'.

-' from the work clamping device by releasing the-wing nuts54, it maybe provided with a" lining piece 120 (Fig 10) secured adhesively" to the surfaces both of the work piece and the pills'112 filling the perforationstherein. It-

of the lining piece 120.]-

'wlll-be understood that the pills 112 arefric v-said pp involving & p y of P r tionally retained within the perforations 114 as the work piece is removed from the work clamping device-and prior to the application The method may be employed with a series of work pieces alternatelyof-"difierent color or appearance, and then it willbe understood foration's. I workpiece with its holes thus blocked by the punchings from the second, anotherworkj that a plurality of work supporting plates are provided so that a piece of work taking the place of the material shownmt 90 in Fig. 7 may. be punched in exactly the desired po- 'sition when the pills are being obtained for insertion in the preceding adjacent piece of the series. This second work piece is-then' removed from the machine and the original or fpr'eceding work piece replaced so that the handle 96 may be operated to guide the punchings into the previously provided per- After having removed the first piece clamped on the plate 40' is put inplace and inserted in the machine and-punched,

the plate 40 then being withdrawn, and the second work piece, still clamped on its plate .40Qis' now returned to its position in the machine and the punchings from the other work piece are then expelled into theperforations of this second work piece. The process may then be repeated as often as desired, each" work iece being ornamented with the punchmgs romthe succeeding workpiece. When the method being carried out witha series of workpieces-of varying appearance, the expelling-step illustrated at the right of the diagram of Fig. 3 is omitted and in its-place the operation shown in Fig, 4 is utilized.

, It will be apparent-that when the punchings are made from pieces of material such as i in Fig. 7,.scrap's of leather of more than one color-might be utilized for the different punchings, thereby to secure an ornamentation of even more varied appearance. It will also be clear that two or more punching ma-- chines, each carrying identical punches may be employed to carry out the method of the invention, utilizing the pills cut by one ma- 1o5 chine 'for insertion into the perforations cut by the other machine) I 1 Having described my invention, what I claim as ne'w'and desire to secure by Letters .1

Patent-ofthe UnitedStates is: 1. A method. of producing ornamented sheet leather which comprises punching out a portion of the leather in accordance with a. predetermined 'design, replacingv the punched out portion'with a correspondingly shaped filling portion of similar material having a different appearance, and attaching .a piece of lining material: both to the'under'. side of said sheetof leather and to the {filling 2o 21 A m fjiirpa eia h e i paerff 1 portion which cogsists in perforating .a de ig f in tions, preparing a set of punchingsof exactly corresponding shape from a difl'erent material, .guiding-sa'idpunchings each to a po- 1 sition directly above, the .corresponding p'er-' simultaneously forcing a plurality-of the punching's into the perforations of tlie shoe 4 jshoe upper,

1 upper, thereby completely to fill the same.

' 3. A method of producing an ornamented which consists in forming a performation of a predetermined design in the -shoe upper providing a punching of ashape like that of the perforation but of a difierent'piece of material within a tubular memrespect to the previously perforated upper by meansof said samemember and-expelling the punching from the tubular member directly'into the sho'e upper; to fill the perforation therein v 4. A method ofproducing'an ornamented shoe upperjwhich consists'mlocating said upper" with respect to afplurality of sharp edged tubular members arranged in'accord- -a'nce with a'pred etermined design,,forc'ing said members through the work-thereby to provide aperforated design inithe work, removingthe perforate-d piece of work, filling the tubular members with pills of siinilar the pillsfrom the tubular through a piece tion to material on the vwork support. and

material of different appearance, the piece of work-in exactlythe same relation with respect "to said members, guiding the Y pills into the perforations a. tubular guide, movement between the work" support and replacing of the upper by means'of said tubular members, and expelling members into .said' perforations tolill the perforated design of .thezshoe pp r,-

-5. A machine for punching sheetmaterial,

comprising awork support, means for locat-g mgp'iec'es of work in predetermined position upon said work support,- a punching device "including a"-tubula r punch, means for operating said punching device to force it f workupon the work sup port, and means for-operatingsaid .pimching'devic'e to'bring it'into position adjacent to tcllieupper surface of the work to serve as a ule."-" 1 6. A machine for filling openingsin perforated material comprising a worksupport, means for producing relative Said guide to bring-the latteriinto juxtaposimeans movable through'the tubular guide'for "expelling a punching located in the guide into an opening, in the.previouslyperforated piece of materiahf v 7 7, Ina machine for-producing ornamented l sheet material, a support "for. a perforated work piece, a'tubular punch," an expelling de:

.- vice' movable through the opening of said tubular? punch, and means for producing [relative movement between: said work su "lint portandsaid punch to'bring the'end of the punch into juxtaposition with'a piece (it work he work support and move the expelling device to force material within the punch into an opening the pieceof. work 'on the w rkspp m; a

8. a punching machine, comprlsmg a work support, a'tubularpunch, a punch car rier, and an ejector within said 7 tubularpunch, means for locating successive pieces of work in a predetermined position between the worksupport and the punch, and operating mechanism for producing relative movement-betweenthe punch carrier and the work support constructed and arranged to ,move

the punch carrier atone time to cause the:

' punch to perforate the work and to move the punchlcarrier at another time to bring the punch intojuxtaposition to the work without cutting the work and to actuate the ejector mechanism. i

9. In a punchingmachine, a work support.

' atubular ,o rc e the punch through a piece of material punch capable-of being moved to 1 'on the work suppo'rt', and adjustablefmeans a work supmeans for-loproviding an abutment-against which said clamping devices may be-pos'itioned repeatedly in exact ing-mechanism 11; In a. punching machine, a worksupy the Same relation to the punchport, and work clamping devices upon said" support, said clamping devices and said support being provided with co-acting surfaces to enable the repeatedpositioning of the clamping devices in exactly upon the wjorksupport.

l2. Ina punching machine, a work clamping device comprisinga removable work supporting plate, means for clamping a piece of work in position thereon and means fdr adjustably positioning a. piece of backing material-on the said platebetween the piece of work and the. surface of the thezcntting edge of the punch. v 13. In a punching machine,

.' ingmeans pro'vided with afiat work support ing surface, .and means for rotatablysu'p portingla piece'of backing material on said the same position plate-to receive work support Surface to receive the cutting edge of th e punch. a

14, Iii a machine for producing. ornamen work piece, plurality of tub cordance with. ej'ectordevice having a plurality of expelling vmembers rran'ged to fit in and move through the open ngs of correspondingly positioned -tubula'r punches,'and means for producing relative inovement between said ,work support and punch to bringthe' of the ed sheet material,- a support for a perforated 1 a punching member 'havinga' c ul'ar. punches arranged 'inac-- a predetermined designfan" punch into juxtaposition to a piece of work 4 on the work support and to move the expelling devices to force the pills within the punches into previously provided openings 5 1n the piece of work on the work su port. -In testimony whereof I have signed. my

- name to this specification. v wl um moms sucnueum RDBBRTS. 

